It’s cold and dull and the Christmas sparkle has faded away, so getting an email from one of last year’s lovelies was the perfect pick-me-up. Claire and Russ got married on the 28^th May last year and this week I got to see the photos for the first time. They were worth waiting for too!

I’m sure you can imagine, I see a lot of photos of my girls with brides and grooms stood next to them, or in them, or quite frequently on them! They’re always great to see because I’m totally madly in love with my cars and I never get bored of looking at them, which is sad I know, but every now and again I see some that make me slam my brew down on the table and shout ‘Hot-diggity-damn’

The set of photos I’m going to share with you are courtesy of LBC photography in Leeds. It was the first time I’d worked with them and hopefully won’t be the last. I think the photos speak for themselves really but I’ll carry on anyway…

What I loved about these LBC  dudes was that their candid shots were really genuinely candid and captured the fun. My big favourite was the one where I’m helping Claire on to the bonnet and Russ is trying his best not to slide off.

The other thing that really struck me was that my baby Pearl is really part of these pictures instead of just being a pretty backdrop. Isn’t that surprising that I like my girl being in the thick of it…

Isn’t she gorgeous?

Claire that is…

Okay, so Pearl is gorgeous too, but I would say that wouldn’t I.

LBC were easy to work with and turned in some snappy results. Snappy results…get it? Oh I’m so funny…I’ll stop now and let you enjoy the rest.

Here’s to Claire and Russ and thanks to LBC photography xx

Ouch. My feet are killing. I’ve just been trawling the shops for a particular colour of dyed feathers which will provide the finishing touch in next week’s bonnet bouquet.  It’s based on a teal colour theme. Yummy! I’m pretty pleased that I managed to find some. Yes Carolyn, if you’re reading this, I’m talking about your big day

Tomorrow I’ll be down the woods, scuffling about, hunting pine cones and holly to begin putting together a ‘winter wonderland’ theme. Diana, that’s for you…

So much of my job is spent sewing, snipping and tying things together that I think I probably spend more time playing dress up with the cars than I do driving.

While I’m on the subject of decorations I decided to do a quick count up to see which were the most popular themes of the year so far.  Here you go pop pickers….

10. An opulent new entry this year, rich chocolate brown

9. Elegant and thoroughly English, the classic Hunter Green

8.  Gaining popularity this year has been Royal Blue

7.  This year twice as many brides have opted for Fuchsia

6.  Traditional and timeless, you just can’t go wrong with Ivory

5.  It’s not just for Goths, and cockney funerals. Bold and brilliant Black

4. Fresh and Zesty, this has featured in all four seasons’ lemon

3. Passionate and dramatic, down on last year but still big news Scarlet

2. Maybe it’s because the girls love chocolate? Cadburys Purple

1. By a country mile the rip roaring ultra-hit of the year, luscious Burgundy.

Last week I finally got my mitts on a set of beautiful photos from the prodigiously talented (that’s a big word before dinner time) Toast of leeds.

I’d been dying to see these for two reasons, firstly because I always look forward to the results of working with Shelly. I get to work with a lot of photographers, some of them are fantastic some of them are pants, and some of them are downright extraordinary.  I think you can see for yourself which category Super Shelly fits in to.

The second reason was I wanted to see the fruits of my labours on film. The tropical fruits…

I had an exciting challenge to decorate the car. ‘Pearl’ was on the job and my brief from Bride and Groom to-be Paula and Mike was ‘hot tropical’ so orange, yellow, pinks and purples were the way to go.

I ordered in lots of new shades of organza and wondered how on earth I could make Pearl look good with such a riot of colours. I had ideas about tropical birds nestled in a bonnet bouquet, then butterflies.  I tried streamers and big blooms, various confections for the door handles and parcel shelf but they all looked so wrong.

After trying big bows, little bows and no bows I had a late night brainwave, thinking back to primary school days was my inspiration and I cut five discs in different shades of organza and stitched them together into individual rosettes to tie on to the door handles. It was nearly midnight by the time I finished but I left the unit feeling pretty pleased with myself. It was a good start.

For the parcel shelf I made a new flower arrangement with pink, yellow, orange and purple silk orchids, framed by an edging around the windscreen of hot pink stem orchids. The whole effect was gloriously colourful and I was thrilled with it.

The next hurdle was how to work the sashes and the bonnet bling. I had so many colours that I wanted to use and I was overwhelmed.

I experimented with multiple colours at the same time, plaiting sashes together, twisting them, tying bows at the wing mirrors, I was getting frustrated that what I had in my head just wasn’t translating in real life.

So I took a step back and decided to focus the mix of colours on the bonnet bouquet, while simplifying the sashes. It was a tough choice which single colour to use, but eventually I plumped for the orange, simply because I’d never used such a vibrant shade before, I’ve used more muted burnt oranges but this was almost electric it was so bright.

I used different lengths of organza for the bonnet bouquet and worked some flowers in too. It was tempting to go really overboard but I held myself back and tried to let the riot of colours be the highlight. Hopefully the blend of all the decorations together would capture what I had envisaged.

I always worry beforehand that my bride won’t love what I’ve done. I take dressing the car more seriously than dressing myself! If I spent as much time putting my own outfits together I’d be one classy chick.

So when I pulled up to collect Mike and his guys first I was relieved when he said how pleased he was with the decorations.

When Paula saw them and also loved them, well that really made my day and all the worrying was completely worthwhile.

The sun was shining and Paula and Mike looked dazzling when they stepped out of The Mansion all married up. They were all big smiles and looking like a pair of cool cats. Paula with her shades on and Mike with some tremendous brothel creepers.

Shelly captured some beautiful original images of the newlyweds with Pearl. I know I can count on her to come up with something new each time. It would be so easy to go for the traditional shot of the couple just standing by the car. That’s all well and good but it’s so refreshing to see it mixed up a little bit.

One of my fave shots is where Mike is in the Driver’s seat and Paula is stood at the side of Pearl wearing her shades holding her bouquet in the air. Mike and Paula were bright fun people and I think Shelly captures it all.

I’m going to keep on bigging her up whenever I can so you all just go ahead and book us both for your wedding which means  I get to work with her again and then I get even more genius shots for my collection and everyone’s a winner!

Running my wedding car business is like being a Mum, looking after my girlies and taking care of them, but I’m also the other kind of mum. The kind that you see wearing a haunted expression, and sporting fresh grey hairs every day….A mum of teenagers.

Well last week was beset by some serious trauma. I thought the terrible twos were bad, but they were just a warm up for the terrifying teens!

So after a gruelling couple of days, I took five to grab a coffee and check my emails.  That’s when I found out that Lady Penelope Cars had been chosen as the winner of the Northeast Transport Supplier in the 2012 Wedding Industry Awards. How very chuffin’ awesome!

At the start of November I was really thrilled to have even been shortlisted out of the many entrants in the region. The final list featured some well-respected, long established businesses so I imagined actually winning the category was out of the question. Don’t you just love surprises!

A large part of the decision was the votes and the comments made by the voters and I had some beauties, as I sat there reading the lovely things that my Brides and Grooms had said and it made me all weepy, in a good way of course!

So thank you to my customers for all your kind words, thank you for the votes and thank you for choosing us to take care of getting you there on your big day.

I’ve finally managed to break away and get down to the unit to tell my girls the good news. We’re now ‘The Award Winning – Lady Penelope Cars’.

For any of you out there considering children, can I suggest classic cars as a brilliant and sensible alternative

Since I packed in smoking 2 years ago I’ve been notching up the pounds, 20 of them and rising according to the machine at Boots.  I don’t own a set of scales. I’d go mad if I did. Aside from the fact that my backside will soon require its own postcode, my major problem now is my uniform. Read the rest of this entry »

During a trip to the supermarket I saw the cashier raise her eyebrow at the amount of Champagne I was buying so I explained what I did for a living. She began excitedly telling me that her sister was getting married soon and she would need a car, of course the next question was

‘How much do you charge?’

When I told her £249, she made a noise like chicken being strangled.  I gathered that my services would not be required.

‘Wedding cars are a waste of money’ She exclaimed.

For a moment I wanted to justify my prices but then I reconsidered. If the bride to be was anything like her sister then that kind of custom I could do without. Besides, there are much more affordable ways to travel.

Cashiers sister here’s some suggestions for you…

Why not get your Dad to drive you. While he’s finding a space to park because all the guests have taken them, you can stand there looking pretty until he’s good and ready to give you away.

Why not take public transport? What could be more romantic than standing at the bus stop and then hopping on to the 680. It stops right outside the registry office too and there’s plenty of space for your dress.  Just ignore the spotty teenagers brawling on the back seat and the crazy woman who wants to tell you her life story; it’s all part of the fun.

Taxis are another great option, they’re always thoughtfully driven by courteous drivers and always punctual, I have never known a taxi to be late or not arrive, well maybe once or twice but it’s okay because they can always send another if the one you booked doesn’t show.  Don’t you just love that fresh smell of chicken tikka and aftershave with a little bit of sick.

It’s true; Wedding Cars are a waste of money, along with diamond bracelets, 5 star hotels, vintage wine, romantic meals for two and the terrific wedding dress that you’ll only wear once.

Here’s to wasting money!

Yesterday after a 20 year engagement  Chris finally married his beloved Mandy at Spring Hall in Halifax surrounded by their children, but one of his daughters, Katherine had a trick up her sleeve… Read the rest of this entry »

After crossing the snarled up traffic in town on the way to Saltaire Church we hit a long queue of traffic, the kind of queue that moves so slowly it makes you want to bash your head on the steering wheel in frustration, or maybe that’s just  me. Anyhow, every man and his motor are in the lane going straight on to Saltaire. Meanwhile the lane for traffic turning right into Shipley is completely car free, clear to the end.  Ooh the dilemma….

Read the rest of this entry »

Over the past few months I’ve been looking at all the ways that I could add a little more sparkle to my wedding car biz.  I’ve created new packages, offered new services and even added a new car.  The next logical step was to revisit our ‘easy pay’ instalment plan that spreads the cost of a booking over 5 monthly payments.

I don’t know about you, but I pay most of my bills on a monthly basis and I’ve never been a big fan of one off payments, which is why I came up with the option of offering my customers a choice of paying for their wedding car booking by instalments. And guess what…I’m the only one who does!

I was thinking about the bills I pay and my TV licence payment is around £11 per month. I don’t notice it so much because it’s broken down into 12 payments. The smaller the payment the less impact it has on the monthly budget and the easier it is to absorb, so I wanted to make my payment options similar and more flexible to fit with my customers’ needs rather than just having one option of 5 monthly payments.

I’m using new software to manage my bookings which means I’ m able to cope with more than one type of plan, so now as well as a tailor made wedding car service,  I can whip up the perfect  payment plan to match. If your wedding is in 12 months’ time then let’s do it over 12 monthly payments, or if it’s in 18 months then let’s have 18 payments. The only condition is,  that a plan needs to be paid in full before the day of the wedding. Piece of cake…

I’ll be updating the website over the next few days with full details of our ‘Piece of Cake’ tailored payment plan. It’s going to be rather sweet and very tasty.

My name is…My name is….I don’t know.

I’ve had the new car for nearly three weeks and I’m still referring to her as ‘The New Girl’ which is a bit of a mouthful and it makes me feel bad because I haven’t found the perfect name for her right away. It’s almost disrespectful and I’m expecting her to protest quite soon by refusing to start or quite literally blowing a gasket.

Choosing a name that suits can be hard. When my son was born it took me a whole week to name him. I’d decided on Robert before he was born and then when he arrived in the world it just wasn’t right. I tried all sorts until I finally settled on Joe which fitted him perfectly.

So I need to find the right name for the new girl, and fast! I’ve talked to my Brides, my grooms, my friends and my family and the contenders so far are:

Lilith, Tallulah, Verity, Clara, Juniper, Trinity, Margot, Felicity, Pearl, Rose and Eleanor.

I’m tempted by Lilith, suggested by an old friend, or simply Lili as that was on her private reg plate before I bought her. But I really love Tallulah, which was originally suggested by another friend, and when the new girl was dressed in Fuschia pink for Helen and Pauls wedding last saturday it really suited her and it seemed like fate in action when Helen suggested it too! It’s the name of her kitten, so what a great name for a big cat.
My little boy who must have some sympathy for the nameless car suggested Pearl, and he’s quite insistent. My chap offered Rose, which is short and sweet and fitting for her lovely red interior. Felicity was suggested to me yesterday by fellow wedding car owner Scott of ‘Pink My Bride’ and another ‘Good Life’ connection in the form of Margot.

I think the naming of a car, a pet or a person or anything of emotional significance has some kind of mystical importance. It helps to create a bond. That’s such an important part of having a new car for me and it’s not always guaranteed to work out.

My now departed pink jag ‘Lucille’ got her name straightaway but after a few months we just didn’t click. The feeling was mutual. Maybe it was the North/South Divide? Maybe she didn’t like her name. Maybe I’m in danger of sounding like a mentalist…

My cars are a huge part of my life, they are family. Which makes perfect sense for the girl whose childhood heart-throbs were Optimus Prime and K.I.T.T from Knightrider. That said,  I need to do my new girl the honour of a chuffin’ excellent name.

So help me out with any suggestions or choose your favourite on my facebook vote here